


To Build A Home With You

by Camphalfgalra



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, How Do I Tag, Parent AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-03-15 07:44:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13608774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Camphalfgalra/pseuds/Camphalfgalra
Summary: They aren’t married, but by the way he takes care of her child they might as well be.





	1. Family Nights

Pidge sighed, rolling over onto her right side. She slowly opened her eyes, glancing at the clock on the bedside table, which read 3:27 AM. Great. She had been awoken by her baby crying in the middle of the night again. Groaning, she threw the covers off of her body, sitting up in and turning the bedside lamp on in an attempt to get to the child before she woke up Keith again.

However, before she could get to the crib, she heard a soft sigh as a figure got up from his makeshift bed on the floor and walked slowly to the crib. “I’ll go,” Keith mumbled as he reached the crib, rubbing his eyes before leaning down to pick the wailing six month old up. He pulled her closer to his chest, rocking her back and forth gently. “Shh, it’s okay. I’m here now.”

By now, Pidge was wide awake as she looked at Keith with the biggest blush and smile on her face, staring after him with a dopey expression. She wasn’t afraid to admit to herself that she did in fact have a big fat crush in Keith, but she was afraid of telling him that she did have a crush on him. They had an amazing friendship, and she didn’t want to ruin that by letting the fact that he was her crush slip. She wasn’t going to deny that she had dreamt about someday having a family with him and all that they would do, even though she would never admit it to anyone.

She secretly thanked the weather for destroying Keith’s apartment, even though he wasn’t a fan of sleeping in someone else’s house. He had gotten fairly used to living in her house though, going as far as to give her a heart attack when he emerged from the shower one morning with his abs exposed and only his bottom half covered with a towel. Had she not been holding Zoe, her six month old daughter, she would have dropped dead at the mere sight of him walking out of the shower. It was like a gift from the gods themselves. 

Keith may not have had the cleanest place, but he sure made an effort to help her keep her place clean. So far, during the week he had spent with her, he had helped her with grocery shopping and had taken care of Zoe when it was her turn to go out to work during the day. He was sweet, and didn’t complain once when she made a makeshift bed on the floor for him, despite the fact that he didn’t exactly like to sleep on the floor. 

This had been the fifth time this week that he had voluntarily gotten up to take care of Zoe, and Pidge swore it was bad for her heart. Every time she saw him holding Zoe, her heart beat a little bit more faster and she could have swooned because Keith holding Zoe made him look like a dad. More of a dad than Lotor had been, anyways. She felt as if she and Keith were married, and although she knew they weren’t, oh how she hoped that one day they would be and that Zoe would grow up with him as her father.

“Hey, scoot over, will you?” Came Keith’s voice from the left side of the bed. Pidge raised a brow, looking at him in confusion.

“Why?”

“She won’t let go of my shirt,” he said while looking down at her fist that was indeed holding onto his shirt tightly. Pidge sighed.

“Fine. Put her in the middle though. I don’t want her rolling off the bed.”

“What kind of person would I be if I left a six month old on the edge of the bed? I’m not that crazy, you know. Besides, she might not be my kid, but it sure feels like she is,” he said while chuckling, not noticing the blush that had appeared on Pidge’s face.

“O-oh, okay. Come on, then.” She scooted over to the other side, allowing Keith to slip into bed next her. He placed Zoe in the middle, keeping a protective arm over her as he shut the lamp off, immediately closing his eyes. He sighed, burrowing his head into the pillow.

“This is so much better than the floor.”

Pidge snorted lightly, smiling as she watched both Keith and Zoe smile with their eyes closed. “Goodnight.” She heard him mumble a faint ‘goodnight,’ his snores filling up the room a few minutes later. Pidge sighed, watching him sleep peacefully and closed her own eyes, whispering into the dark, “I love you.”

She didn’t stay up long enough to notice the huge smile that had taken over Keith’s face as he slowly moved her hand onto Zoe’s small body just enough so their hands would touch.

He couldn’t wait to see her cute flushed face in the morning.


	2. Sick Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge freaks out when Zoe falls ill. Luckily, Keith is there to help her.

_"I think we should move in close to a park," Pidge commented as she leaned on the counter, her cheek pressed on her knuckles. "Don't you think so?"_

_Lotor chuckled. "Why?"_

_"For the baby, Lotor," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "After the wedding, of course," she rapidly added. "She'd be able to grow up with easy access to a park. Kids love parks, don't they?"_

_"That they do. But love, aren't you getting too ahead of yourself? The child hasn't even been born and you're already thinking of her future!"_

_"It's not to early to start planning for the future," she chastised lightly. "I'm just saying, it'd be amazing if she could grow up near kids."_

_Lotor smiled. "You're not wrong there. We'll look into it, I promise. Is that alright?"_

_"It's perfect," she said while smiling at him._

_"Speaking of the future," Lotor said, taking a sip of his drink, "shouldn't we come up with a name for her? We're already planning a wedding and future home when we haven't even come up with a name for our child! What kind of parents are we?"_

_"One of a kind," she said, giggling. "Okay no, you're right. Hm. What names do you suggest?"_

_"Katie the Second."_

_Pidge burst out laughing, looking up at Lotor with a huge smile on her face. "Why would we name her Katie the Second?"_

Lotor shrugged. "It's a beautiful name," he said before smirking. "Besides, if she's anything like you then she deserves to have a name like her mother to go along with her mother's beauty."

_Pidge blushed, punching him lightly. "You stop that."_

_"Hm. I'd prefer not to," he teased, smiling. "If our child isn't going to be called Katie the Second, then what name do you suggest?"_

_"Claire?"_

_"Too stereotypical," Lotor said. "We need our daughter to stand out, because if she's anything like us, then she's going to be special."_

_"She is like us, Lotor. She's made up of both of us."_

_"Yes I know, but you know what I meant."_

_"Okay, so no for Claire. Bella?"_

_"Do we look Italian?"_

_"I do. You? I'm not so sure. You look more alien to me."_

_"Fair point. But it doesn't sound right. Honerva?"_

_"That's your mothers name. My child is not being named after your crazy mother."_

_"That's also another fair point. Eve?"_

_"I like it! Let's think of something else we might like though. I don't wanna be stuck with just one option," she said with a small smile._

_Lotor shrugged. "Suit yourself. Oh, I've got it. Zoe?"_

_Pidge raised her brows, looking at him with a small smile. "That's actually a really nice name. What's it mean?"_

_"It means 'Life' in Greek."_

_"I like it a lot. I think we just found our daughters name."_

_"Zoe. Yes, I like it," he said with a smile before leaning down to kiss Pidge's stomach. "I hope you like it as much as we do."_

_The couple chuckled, happy that they had finally found a name for their daughter._

That was one of the last few happy memories they had had. After that, Pidge had gotten into a car accident. Miraculously, nothing had happened to Zoe and Pidge had a minor concussion, but her relationship with Lotor became strained after that. He had been offered a job halfway across the country, and believing that it was a good opportunity to be able to provide for his daughter and fiancé, had taken it.

They tried to keep up over FaceTime, Pidge telling him excitedly about what was going on and how Zoe was developing, but that only lasted for a while. He was swamped with work, and she had to refrain from flying over to New York and strangling him. In the end, the distance was too much and they decided that they couldn't go on like that.

They broke up, with Lotor promising that he would be there to provide her with anything she and Zoe needed. He was there for the birth of his daughter, and helped her get home afterwards. He adored Zoe, but he and Pidge agreed to the terms on which he would b allowed to visit Zoe. He was given he liberty to visit her whenever she wanted, and ultimately he ended up permanently moving to New York.

_"Don't be afraid to call, okay? You're not a stranger."_

_"I know. Take care of her, alright?"_

_"I will."_

She woke up feeling a light tap on her shoulder, groaning. "What?" She opened her eyes and closed them again, turning over to her side. "Let me sleep, Keith."

"Move over."

"No, you're going to squish Zoe."

"She's in my arms, Pidge," the raven haired boy said dully, holding the babbling child in his arms. "I just changed her diaper. Move over, I want some more sleep."

"Haven't you heard that it's rude to ask to sleep in a girl's bed if you're not in a relationship with her?"

Keith scoffed, heading over to Zoe's crib, careful not to drop her as he hunched over it and put her down. He gave her her stuffed green lion, the girl squealing in delight as she grabbed it with her stubby fingers. "Yeah totally. If that's true, why did Zoe happen? And why did I sleep in it yesterday night?"

"I was dating her father, you moron," she replied, her response muffled as she spoke into her pillow. "Don't use my child as an excuse for you to sleep in my bed. There's a couch in the living room. Take it."

"I can't believe you invited me to stay over and you don't even have a guest room," Keith said, sitting on the edge of her bed and looking at her with a tired expression. "I want sleep, Pidge."

"I'm sorry if my daughter is keeping you up. Might I remind you that you're the one who decided to come over and just said, 'I'm living here now' with no explanation? You didn't even tell me anything until the next morning when you walked out of the bathroom with half your body naked."

Keith smirked. "You liked it, didn't you?"

"I like the idea of you shutting up so I can sleep," she replied grumpily, digging her face deeper into her pillow to hide the huge blush that had appeared in her face upon Keith bringing up the shower incident.

"But I'm hungry and tired. I'm basically a bigger version of you when I'm hungry and tired."

"You know how to make your own food, Keith."

"But you make surprisingly good pancakes," he complained. "I came here because you make good food."

Pidge sighed, turning her face slowly and propping herself up in her elbow as she looked at him with a bored expression. "Do you always complain this much in the morning? I'm about to make you start paying rent."

Keith shrugged. "You know, Allura said that too before I moved out of her and Shiro's shared apartment. I think she was joking, but one can't be too sure with Allura."

"No, I think she had a valid point. Fine, I'll make pancakes. But you need to take care of the plates."

Keith smiled at her. "Actually, I was joking. We're invited to a breakfast at Hunk's and Shay's today and I just wanted you to get up so we don't miss the food."

Pidge sighed, looking at him exasperatedly with one foot out of her bed. "Are you serious?"

"It worked, didn't it?"

"I can't believe you. I want sleep, Keith. I only got what, four hours? It's freaking eight thirty!"

He smiled. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll drive and you can sleep on the way."

"But Zoe-"

"Ate some of her baby food already and made a mess in the kitchen which I cleaned up before she drank some milk out of her bottle. She also just took a huge shit, so I think she'll be okay for the ride," he replied with a smile. "You're welcome."

Pidge sighed, a small smile on her lips. "Okay okay, thank you Keith. But get out, I need to change."

"If I'm getting out, so is Zoe. Come here, Zoe," he drawled out as he pulled her out of her cribs. He took her small green lion plushie and gave it to her to play with and she giggled, waving it in the air wildly as Pidge smiled.

"You actually put on clothes that matches. I'm surprised, Keith," she teased as she walked up to him and tapped Zoe's nose lightly with her finger, the baby girl smiling.

"Mmmma!"

"Yes, I am your mama," Pidge said while looking up at her smiling daughter. She had Lotor's nose, and his dark blue, almost purple eyes. Zoe had her mothers eye shape and hair color, her skin color closer to her mothers than to her fathers. "You're going to go with Keith for a while, okay? Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble."

Zoe laughed, prompting Keith to look at Pidge with a smirk. "If anyone needs to be kept out of trouble, it should be Zoe."

Pidge raised a brow. "Why?"

"She tried to roll off the bed in the morning when I was changing her pamper. I leaned to the side to get a wipe, and she just decided to roll off the bed. I caught her before she did, of course, but this little girl is going to be so much trouble when she grows up," he chuckled. "I don't know if she gets it from you or Lotor, but I'm leaning more towards you," he said as she walked into the closet.

Pidge rolled her eyes, taking a small sweater out of the closet. "Haha, very funny. My guess is Lotor, although mom always said I wanted to walk before I could crawl," she said thoughtfully, handing Keith the sweater. "Here, put it on."

Keith grinned, struggling not to laugh as he took it from her hands. "I don't think I'll fit in this, Pidge." He bit his lip as he saw her look at him exasperatedly, forcing down the urge to laugh.

"Keith, you know better than that. Put it on Zoe; I don't want her catching a cold."

"The only person who's going to catch a cold around here is me because I'm sleeping on the floor and because you're being very cold hearted," Keith replied, plucking the sweater out of her hands and dangling it in front of Zoe.

"Haha, very funny," Pidge said, rolling her eyes. "Keith seriously, if you don't like the floor then you should probably find another place to live in. I'm a single mom; I don't accommodate for extra people."

Keith frowned. "I was joking, Pidge. Seriously, I'm fine. I'll just put Zoe's sweater on before she catches a cold." He turned on his heels towards the door, bouncing the child on the side of his hip as he walked out of the room.

"If you need us, we'll be waiting in the car!" Keith called out over his shoulder as he started talking to the child in his arms, Zoe babbling away happily.

Pidge let out a small smile before shrugging the door, stretching and pulling out her own clothes from the closet. She went for the classic light green top with black jeans, accompanied by low black boots and a black leather jacket that she had a funny feeling wasn't hers. Tugging all the clothes on she was eventually ready in five minutes, placing just a small hint of lipstick on her lips when her phone stared buzzing on her night stand.

She picked up the phone and answered the call, balancing her phone between her shoulder and ear.

"Hello?"

" _Are you coming over for breakfast_?" Allura voice asked over the line, curiosity lacing her tone.

"Yeah, I am. Keith offered to drive and Hunk makes good food. Plus, I'm not in the mood to look after two babies."

Allura chuckled. " _Is Keith being a pain in the ass? We could take him off your hands, you know. Force him to live with Lance or something_."

"Oh god no, I'd never do that to Lance," Pidge said, chuckling as she put her boots on, tying the laces tightly. "I'll just toughen it out for whatever time he has to stay here until his house is fixed."

" _Don't be alarmed if he walks out of the shower with half a towel on. He tends to do that quite often_."

"Oh don't fucking remind me," Pidge groaned, flopping backwards onto her bed. "It's horrible. If I wasn't holding Zoe I would've fainted on the spot."

" _You should just tell him how you feel, you know. I'm pretty sure he might feel the same way_ —"

"And risk ruining the friendship we have?" Pidge asked incredulously. "No, I don't think so. I don't want him to feel obligated to say yes because he's going to think that I'm asking so that he can help out with Zoe. Also, Allura? Keith is super good with kids and it's not fair. He's perfect boyfriend and husband material!" She whined.

" _Then make him your boyfriend. Listen, I know Keith. He's not going to think that you just want him to help you, okay? He genuinely likes Zoe, and who wouldn't? She's adorable. Keith would stay with you just because you're who you are, and he adores you_."

"Allura, how many fairytales have you been reading a night to your kids?"

" _Between Shiro and I, it's ten a week. Why_?"

"Oh, just curious, because your words sound like they come right out a picture book!" Pidge said incredulously. "No offense, but I think I'll stay in the painful 'I like you but I'm totally cool living with the fact that you probably don't like me' zone."

Allura audibly sighed on the other side of the line. " _Well, you do you I guess. If Keith asks you out_ —"

"Which he won't do–"

"— _then please, for all our sakes, accept. We're tired of seeing you two dance around the bush as if it were on fire. You two like each other and you know it_."

"I just don't want to get attached before he walks out on me like Lotor did," Pidge mumbled. "I know he didn't mean to and we both agreed that it was the best way, but he left me with our child instead of trying to make it work. Now he has a new life with an entirely new girlfriend, and I don't know Allura. I really don't want to date someone right now and risk having my heart broken again."

" _Keith would never do that. You know what? I'm going to set you two up on a double date_ ," Allura said determinedly. " _I will—what? Shiro, I'm on the phone! Wait, Emi no! Pidge, I'm so sorry but I have to check up on my own children. I'll see you in a few minutes, bye_!"

Allura abruptly hung up, leaving Pidge to blankly stare at her reflection in the mirror.

"What the hell am I doing with my life?"

A car honked outside and she was suddenly jolted back into reality as she realized that she had spent almost ten minutes on the phone with Allura.

"Shit!" She cursed before grabbing her phone and Zoe's bag off her bedside table, quickly running out of her room and eventually put of her house, locking the door behind her and racing down the stairs. She slid into Keith's car quickly, slamming the door shut and sitting back, panting.

Keith arched a brow. "Are you okay?"

"You rushed me out of my own damn house, no I am not okay. I'm tired and hungry."

Keith grimaced. "Alright then."

Pidge emitted a small sigh. "Where's Zoe?"

"Mama!" Zoe squealed from the back seat, lifting her stubby fingers up in the air and waving her hands around wildly, gurgling with laughter.

Keith grinned. "She's here. What, you think I'd leave my own child at home?"

Pidge's eyes widened and she snapped her neck around, eyeing Keith suspiciously. "She's not your kid, Keith."

"She is now. Right Zoe?"

"Da-da!" She said, squealing with laughter as she grabbed her green lion and red lion that Keith had brought for some weird reason.

Pidge sent her child a short glare. "You betray your mom, Zoe."

"Admit it, you love me," Keith teased before starting up the car, pulling out of the driveway and onto the street, heading in the direction of Hunk's Home.

Pidge yawned. "Yeehaw, whatever. I'm tired."

"Sleep. I'm driving, not you. It's okay for you to pass out, just wake up when we get to Hunk's place."

"Thanks bye," she mumbled before closing her eyes and leaning back in her chair, slowly drifting off to sleep within a matter of two minutes.

Keith chuckled once he realized that she had passed out. "Zoe, your mom's sleeping. Think she'll be annoyed if I play some music?"

Zoe only laughed in response.

Keith chuckled. "Yes? Music? Alright." He connected his phone to the aux cord, flipping through his playlist as he came to a stop at a red light. Once he found Hamilton, he grinned.

"Pidge is going to have a field day when she finds out I showed you this. Okay Zoe, get ready!"

He pressed play and the beginning to 'Alexander Hamilton' began blasting through the speakers, Pidge surprisingly remaining sleeping and Zoe waving her red lion in the air to match the beat.

In the fifteen minute drive to Hunk's house, Zoe had started trying to imitate the words that were being spoken through the speakers, Keith drumming his fingers on the steering wheel rhythmically. He pulled into Hunk's driveway, arching a brow of amusement as he spotted Allura and Shiro waiting for them on the front lawn.

He shut off the car, pushing the car door open and walked towards the other side, opening Zoe's side of the door open and pulling her out. She laughed as he pulled her out of her carseat, her laugh contagious as Keith chuckled, pressing her against his chest as he pushed the door shut.

He sighed when he saw Pidge curled up in her chair, eyeing Zoe warily. "Do we wake mom up or let her sleep?"

Zoe only stuck her tongue out in response. Keith wrinkled his nose.

"Mhm yeah, I thought so."

Reluctantly sighing, he held Zoe firmly against him as he tapped on Pidge's window. Receiving no response, he sighed, pulling the door open and swiftly catching her before she fell, gently tapping her shoulder.

"Pidge, wake up."

"Fuck," she murmured sleepily, blearily opening her eyes and blinking rapidly. "Already?"

"Yeah," Keith said, pushing her into an upright sitting position while he held Zoe tightly. "Oh, and Shiro and Allura are watching everything from the front of the house. Just in case you felt like punching me or something."

Pidge snorted, stretching her arms out. "Oh great." She finally grabbed Zoe's bag and got out of the car, shutting the car door.

"You know, Zoe jammed out to Hamilton while you were dead," Keith said, smiling. "Isn't that right, Zoe?"

"You are turning my child into musical trash," Pidge said tiredly, rubbing her eyes with her fists. "Poisoning her at a young age."

"Pidge!" Allura squealed from her spot on the front lawn, walking towards the shorter girl with a huge smile adorning her face. "You finally made it!"

"I slept the entire way here. Thank Keith for getting us here on time and not two hours late," Pidge said, pointing a thumb towards the boy. "Oh yeah, where's the food? I'm starving."

Allura rolled her eyes. "Is food the only thing you think about?"

"No. I also think about Zoe," Pidge stated, crossing her arms across her chest. "You have so little faith in me that's it's pitifully hilarious."

Keith shook his head. "Allura, why does Shiro look like he's crying?"

"Probably because you're carrying a child and he's thinking of your future," Allura replied, shrugging. "You know how emotional Shiro gets when he sees you carrying kids. He starts planning out your entire future."

"Keith!" Shiro said with a smile, "you made it!"

"Are you getting emotional again?" Pidge asked, arching a brow, "because if you are, then I think I'm going to take the nearest bus back home."

Shiro chuckled. "No, I'm fine. No Keith, I was not crying even though you holding Zoe makes me feel like a proud brother," he said, his smile persisting. "You ever consider—"

"Having a kid?" Keith asked, beating Shiro to the question. "No, I don't. I wouldn't mind taking care of Zoe though. She's a kid that understands me," he said, smiling down at the girl and bopping her nose with the tip of his finger. "Right Zoe?"

"Dada."

Pidge face palmed. "Zoe, why."

"Mama!"

Allura chuckled lightly. "Well, let's go inside before the children end up eating everything. Well, the children and Lance," she said wearily, lowering her brows before brightening up, taking Pidge by the shoulder and pulling her towards the house. "Come on! You an I have a lot to talk about."

Pidge yelped before being pulled along by Allura, leaving Keith alone with Shiro, the two men looking after the two women curiously.

"Do you know—"

"I stopped wondering why Allura always pulls Pidge aside every time we meet a longgg time ago," Shiro responded before patting Keith on the shoulder gently. "Well now that we're alone, can we please talk about how you won't ask Pidge out?"

Keith rolled his eyes, entering the house with Shiro following behind him. "Listen, it's not like I don't want to ask her out because I totally do, but I don't think both of us are ready for that yet."

Shiro pouted. "Why not?"

Keith snorted. "Did you see what happened with her last relationship? Lotor freaking left her with a void, and she's slowly getting better but not really. I can tell she still somewhat likes him, and that she's also hesitating getting into another relationship because of that. I don't want to push her only to break her again, you know what I mean?" Keith said gently, slightly frowning. "She doesn't deserve anymore pain."

Shiro emitted a small sigh. "I know what you mean. Look, I get that you want to take things slow, but there's not harm in asking if she would like to try something. Even if she says not yet, that doesn't mean that the possibility is out the window. You two adore each other, anyone can see that. If you're both willing to put effort into the whole dating game then I think you two won't break," Shiro said, smiling reassuringly. "Don't worry, Keith. I'm sure she'll say yes."

Keith shrugged, entering the dining room where everyone was seated. "I guess."

"Uncle Keith!" Emi, Shiro's six year old daughter, screeched, launching herself at Keith. 

Keith let out a yelp as he clutched on tight to Zoe, slightly stumbling backwards before regaining his balance. He grinned down at Emi, who was looking up at him with wide, dark brown eyes. 

"Hey Emi!" He greeted, rubbing the top of her head with his free hand, "How are you?"

"Daddy didn't let me eat my birthday candy," she said, crossing her arms. "I'm mad."

Keith eyed Shiro with a smirk. "Damn Shiro, why aren't you letting her have her birthday candy? It's hers, right?"

Shiro rolled his eyes. "Keith," he said in a warning tone.

Keith chuckled before turning back to Emi, sending her a crooked smile. "Sorry Emi, looks like your dad's right on this one. You should eat real food first before eating candy, or else you're going to get a tummy ache," he teased, crouching down and poking her in her stomach. "We wouldn't want that, right?"

Emi sighed. "No..." She quickly turned her attention to Zoe, who was looking up at Emi with her wide eyes. "Is that a baby?" Emi asked excitedly, grabbing one of Zoe's hands and squeezing it gently.

"She's not my baby but yes, she's a baby," Keith said, grinning. "She's aunt Pidge's baby, remember?"

"Zoe!" Emi said as she remembered who the baby was. "I love you!"

Shiro arched a brow, turning around to find Pidge watching as Emi interacted with both Keith and Zoe in amusement from the dining room doorway with Allura. Pidge spotted Shiro looking at her, shooting him a peace sign before walking in, crouching down next to Keith and smiling at Emi gently.

"I'm sure she loves you too, Emi, but I need to go change her diaper now, okay?"

Emi pouted. "I wanna play with her!"

"You can play with her after you eat breakfast," Keith said gently. "Is that fair?"

Emi let out a long sigh, looking at Zoe with a crooked smile. "Okay," she said reluctantly, quickly getting up and launching herself towards Allura, who effortlessly picked her up and spun her around in the air.

Keith eyed Pidge with a smirk tugging at the edges of his lips. "Do you actually have to change her? I just did that less than an hour ago."

"No, but we have to eat," she said, motioning towards Lance and Hunk, who were setting the table with an assortment of muffins, pancakes, and waffles along with other types of food. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"Okay, you're got me there," Keith said, chuckling before standing up and passing Zoe over to Pidge. 

"Gee, thanks," Pidge said before Lance swooped down and pulled the child out of her arms, tapping on her nose with his finger repeatedly

"I'll take it from here," Lance said in his normal happy tone, doing as Zoe grabbed his nose. "You are coming with me because your mom and dad need to eat, okay? Good girl!"

Pidge and Keith both felt their face flush as they heard Lance insinuate that they were together.

"We are not—"

"How dare—"

Lance grinned smugly before pulling Zoe along with him, sitting at the table beside Hunk and bounding the child on his knee as she reached for the croissant on his plate.

Keith finally stopped blushing and cleared his throat, sending Pidge a small smile.

"At least you can eat now," he said. He only received a tired glare in response from Pidge.

* * *

They spent the day at Hunk's place just lazily lounging about and watching Disney movies per the children's request, Zoe laying on her stomach smack in the middle of Allura's two children, Hunk's one child and Lance's two favorite nephews with Matt sitting next to them, hyping the movie up in his typical fashion, making the children squeal with laughter while the movie played. In the background, Hunk, Lance, Shiro, Allura, Pidge, and Keith were playing a card game and talking about random life shit, occasionally glancing up at the children on the rug.

They all left Hunk's place relatively late with the children all tired but ultimately happy, so when Zoe wouldn't fall asleep and started acting all fussy as soon as Keith put her down in her crib for the night, Pidge couldn't figure out why her child wouldn't sleep.

"Pidge, are you okay?" Keith asked the girl worriedly as he bounced Zoe on his hip, unsuccessfully trying to stop her wails.

"No," Pidge replied, furrowing her brows. "Why won't she sleep? She was perfectly fine and ready to sleep in the car..."

"You think she might be coming down with something?" Keith asked worriedly, putting a hand up to Zoe's forehead. "She is a little warm, Pidge."

"I don't understand how she could be sick though," Pidge replied, walking towards Zoe's crib and pulling a thermometer out of the small stand next to it. "She was perfectly fine a half hour ago!"

"She's a baby, Pidge. Sometimes babies get colds out of nowhere. Trust me, I would know. Shiro said I used to get fevers all the time when I was a kid," he said, trying to reassure the worrying woman in front of him. "It's normal, don't worry. All we need to do is keep an eye on her and make sure her temperature doesn't sky rocket, or else we have to take her to the hospital."

"What do I do? She's never been sick before," Pidge said, her worry growing by the second. "I'm such a terrible mother."

"Hey," Keith said, taking a hold of her hand with his free hand, "you're not a bad mom. You just have to think, Pidge. Think. What can you do to help Zoe?"

Pidge frowned, her eyes downcast. "I don't know, uh, a warm bath? Water? Ice?"

"I'll get the bath running and you can get the water bottle. Once she's out of the bath, we'll try to put her to sleep with some music in the background and stay up for a while just to check on her temperature and make sure she's okay."

Pidge nodded. "Right," she said, making a run for the kitchen while Keith took Zoe into the bathroom, placing her in the small miniature tub that was in the middle of the larger bath tub. He quickly started running the water, grabbing the sponge off the side of the tub and began soaking Zoe in the water, successfully stopping her cries as she kicked the water with her foot, splashing around wildly. He quickly finished giving her a bath, wrapping her up in a towel and bringing her into Pidge's room.

Meanwhile, Pidge was still having multiple heart attacks as she filled one of Zoe's bottles with water, quickly popping the top on and racing upstairs. She found Keith on the edge of the bed with Zoe sprawled on the bed, her body wrapped in a towel.

"Did you give her a bath already?"

"Yeah. She finally calmed down," Keith said proudly, getting up and pulling a pair of Zoe's pajamas out of the closet, motioning for Pidge to make sure the girl didn't roll off the bed. "I think she'll be able to sleep alright if we just give her some room to breathe. You know, some loose clothes."

"Yeah," Pidge replied, sitting on the edge of the bed and cradling Zoe in her arms, feeding her the bottle that contained the water. 

Keith came out of the closet and motioned for Pidge to put Zoe back down, proceeding to put some loose shorts and a small shirt on the girl, giving Zoe the freedom to move her arms and legs freely without feeling like she was suffocating. 

Thirty minutes minutes later, Zoe was passed out in Keith's arms and Pidge was slightly dozing off, blinking her eyes rapidly to keep her from falling asleep as Zoe's snores filled the air. 

Keith nudged Pidge gently, the girl suddenly snapping back to her sense as she looked at Keith, who motioned for her to lay down in bed. 

"Go to sleep, Pidge. I'll take care of Zoe until I'm completely sure she's okay," he said gently, smiling.

"No," Pidge replied stubbornly, shaking her head. "She's my girl, not yours. You don't have to burden yourself with my kid, really. I'm sorry you even have to be here," Pidge said, frowning. "I'm sorry that you have to deal with me and my stupidity as a mother. What kind of mom am I that can't even take care of her own sick child without worrying her ass off? I'm no good at this Keith, and I'm so sorry that you have to act more of a parent rather than my b—"

"Hey, hey," Keith said gently, pulling Pidge closer to his side, the girl allowing her head to fall against his chest, "I don't have a problem helping you, Pidge. I honestly love helping you with Zoe, okay? I'm not doing anything out of pity; I'm doing it because you don't deserve to go through parenthood alone," he said, rubbing her shoulder soothingly.

"I know it's scary as fuck to be taking care of a kid alone, but you're doing great. Me helping you makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something and I'd do anything to help you in a heartbeat, whether you ask for my help or not. I'm not leaving you," Keith said firmly.

Pidge let out a small, shaky laugh. "You're too good to me," she choked out, rubbing her eyes furiously with her fists. "I don't deserve to have you in my life," she murmured. 

"Neither do I deserve having you in my life, but here we are," Keith said, sending her a small smile. "I wouldn't change it for the world, either," he murmured, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head. A surge of happiness coursed through his body as she emitted what he assumed to be a content sigh, rubbing her back gently while cradling Zoe at the same time.

"Rest," he said softly. "Rest."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me uh four months but the next chapter is finally up lolol. I hope you guys enjoy this!

**Author's Note:**

> I’m considering turning this into like a mini series lol. What do you guys think? Would you like to see more of this? Feedback is greatly appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed this! Edit: this is in now way related to my books growing pains, it’s just me reusing a character name lolol.


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